"Disrespectful and frustrating": Publicists call out Kyle and Jackie O
A group of publicists have called out Kyle and Jackie O's "disrespectful" behaviour on their radio show, while explaining why celebrities keep appearing on their program.
The claims against the radio duo were first brought to light in an episode of the Game Changers Radio: Melbourne Radio Wars podcast, with the hosts reading out an email they had received from an anonymous publicist who regularly books their "talent" to appear on the popular KIIS FM radio show.
“We are feeding the beast as we are giving Kyle and Jackie O access to artists and stars when they do terrible interviews and are always late,” the publicist complained in the email.
“I had one TV publicist have to wait 45 minutes with their A-grade talent. They do it to everyone. It’s disrespectful and frustrating.”
The publicist went on to explain why they have no choice but to book celebrities on the show, given the huge audience that listens to the show.
“From a music point of view, the big dogs say we have to support them for the bigger picture and airplay, but artists don’t want to talk to them,” they wrote in the email.
After the claims were first aired, news.com.au reached out to other publicists to share their own stories of dealing with the radio hosts.
One publicist shared, “They’re a nightmare, always have been."
“Normally you get talent for a day or two to do some promo, so you’ve got to micromanage that day within an inch of its life so you can do as many interviews as possible."
“But every single time you go to them, they always leave you waiting,” the publicist said. “You will wait an hour (in the green room) and it just stuffs up your morning."
“I think it’s a power play for Kyle who thinks, ‘I’m the king of radio and you will all sit back and wait for me until I say you can come in.’”
Another publicist called out the recent dip in quality of the show, criticising the "smutty" nature of the radio program, saying, “They’ve lost it.”
“I don’t know if they’ve decided to double down on the smut because somebody has said something about it, but they talk to guests for 30 seconds and then they’ve got nothing and so they start asking them if they’ve done an*l. It’s like, really? You haven’t got anything more than this?"
“They went through a phase where they were one of the better interviews,” the same publicist said. “When Kyle is on song, nobody is a better broadcaster and he gives a really generous plug. But it just feels like they’ve lost their way a little bit lately."
“I think everybody walks away from them now going, ‘that was just weird,’” they said.
Despite all the problems encountered with the show, all the publicists said they were still willing to book their talent on the radio show.
“Nowadays I’m very selective about which talent I put up for chats,” one said.
“I only pick talent who I think can handle it, who are open to being asked about everything, including their sex lives. I find the interviews often run better if you don’t set parameters, because if you tell Kyle that certain topics are off limits, you can be guaranteed he will ask about them on air.”
Another added, “I always factor in delays when booking guests on Kyle and Jackie. Those delays often impact interviews we have lined up with other radio stations, but it’s usually worth it because their audience is so much bigger than all those other stations combined.”
News.com.au also reached out to KIIS FM to comment on the controversies, with a rep saying, “There is no issue, and the show continues to enjoy huge stars”.
Image credits: Instagram / KIIS FM